Demand still high for stolen personal data

SAN FRANCISCO -- One economy apparently isn't hurting these days — the one run by identity thieves in the dark corners of the Internet.

Demand and prices remain stable for stolen credit cards, Social Security numbers and other private information, according to a new study by security software maker Symantec Corp.

Meanwhile, the supply of such data is steady too, thanks to the way the recession has inspired new scams targeting people who are worried about work and their finances, according to the Symantec report and another study from Gartner Inc. that was due to be released Tuesday.

"There's no pricing pressure at all — it's not dropping, they're not negotiating down," said Alfred Huger, vice president of Symantec Security Response. "That tells us that there are still the same number of buyers. The underground economy has not been affected by the recession."

One reason is that the prices for some records have been falling for years and can't go much lower. Stolen credit card numbers now go for as little as 6 cents each, if they're bought 10,000 at a time. The price can be $30 per card for smaller orders.

Access to hijacked e-mail accounts: 10 cents to $100.

Bank account credentials: $10 to $1,000.

Scammers can hire people to "cash out" compromised bank accounts for between 8% and 50% of the amount they're stealing. Hosting for scam websites ranges from $3 to $40 per week.

Symantec says sellers appear loath to undercut each other. Many cyber gangs are believed to be affiliated with organized crime, and crooks who don't play by the rules risk being locked out of future business, or being targeted with Internet attacks or possibly even physical violence.

"It makes you wonder if there's some collusion among the sellers," Huger said. "And it's a very heavily self-policing industry. I think people there would take a very dim view of significant undercutting of prices that would affect the whole industry."

Security experts not involved in Symantec's study say prices for booty like stolen credit card numbers might not be falling anymore because they have hit a bottom. The usefulness of stolen credit card numbers is waning because of anti-fraud measures — crooks now need additional details, like PIN numbers or the security codes on the back of the cards, to sell as a package deal.